This past summer, Pilar Guerrero, Spanish entrepreneur resident in the United States, He has enjoyed a "different" vacation in his homeland, a small town in the mountains of Jaén. Just two years ago, Pilar embarked on the adventure of opening a communication company in the U.S. What it was then a dream, is today an increasingly solid project.
To enjoy several weeks followed by what we have traditionally known as "vacation", Pilar would have to leave unattended your business and your customers. So this summer, It has changed the holidays by the "trabajaciones" and has managed its business and its American projects from jienense serranía.
The phenomenon of "trabajaciones" has taken some interest in the United States, although it has received little attention in Spain. Personally, I foresee a growing relevance in some professional profiles and work call knowledge economy where what matters is the content of work, regardless of the place where this is done.
But, What are trabajaciones?
First, I must clarify that the "buzzword" is a free translation of the English "work-cations" O "workations” [if you have a better proposal, let me know 😉 ] and consisting, plain and simple, working from a holiday destination, either this one resort on the beach, a ski station, Your second home in the mountains, or hotel anywhere in the world. Es decir, in telecommute not from your usual place of residence but from a holiday destination.
Pilar is not the only Spanish that has recently adopted this combination of work and vacation. In recent weeks I have met with several people who have also made this past summer. En casi todos los casos –;debo decir–; it was people who have their own business and have used the summer months to reside in quieter destinations from which they have also been able to attend to business, while they have been enjoying more leisure time with his family.
Being the work-cations still an exception in Spain, in the United States is a growing trend in many companies and are increasingly employed employees who enjoy this work scheme.
It works well: the employee expenses for the travel and subsistence pay at the chosen destination, the company agrees to telework from that destination and return the employee enjoys the free time at the destination enjoying their hobbies (surf, ski, diving, Resting…) or with your family. During their working hours from the hotel, second home, or shared offices, the employee is attending their tele- or videoconferences, updating their work projects, answering email, talking with customers, etc. Por ejemplo, normal working hours working from a holiday destination and evenings and weekends are left to self and / or family. And all this without which the company will post at that time employed as vacations.
Es decir, It is to enjoy a vacation while working; very different from what supposes be interrupted by labor issues during a vacation pretending to be just that, holidays.
Let's go, it is not about taking a vacation and be forced to work, but rather the opposite. To work but leaving space for leisure and family from a different destination than usual.
Dicho de otro modo, It is not the work which interrupted a formal holiday period, but leisure time which is integrated into a formal working period.
The question that a person who wants to pick a trabajaciones ago would be why not ask Jef @ permission to leave a few days to a holiday destination but without neglecting my labor issues without I tell my annual leave? Obviamente, If the policy flexibility in the company does not exist and the occasional telework is not part of the culture of the company, hardly the trabajaciones may be accommodated.
In Spain, teleworkers figures are lower than the European average (26% vs. 35% respectively), according to data provided in the White Paper on Telework. In the United States the figures are much higher: 2 out of 3 companies allow their employees to work remotely from time to time (an increase of 50% compared to 2008), According to the Institute of Family and Work of that country. Hence the phenomenon of trabajaciones is also found in the United States its cradle.
positive and negative aspects of work-cations.
Parece evidente que –al igual que la posibilidad de teletrabajar–; improve the trabajaciones "engagement”; or employee commitment to the company. Is, además, an easy practice of promoting environments where workers already have to travel regularly for work and where you can easily link these periods of work with days off and holidays.
But also in those positions that do not require travel for work you can be combined vacation with work, so that they can solve family problems occasionally. For example How to get to the wedding of a family on a Saturday lunchtime in Oviedo while attending this conference important call Friday afternoon? or How to accompany a child to Alicante football trophy without having to take a few days holiday? The trabajaciones may be the answer to these and other questions. And the benefits are clear motivation, productivity and health.
The work-cations also they allow you to better reconcile work and family obligations, Since the family can enjoy the holidays while the parent spend part of the day to work. Proof of this is that some have already experienced-and reported, incluso–; what is going on work-cations with family Walt Disney World.
It is true, no obstante, this practice would be limited only to certain occupations or occupational profiles of the knowledge economy and that it is difficult, or impossible, to implement in other professions where physical presence is essential.
Ahora bien, those who promote this new way of working, also they warn of any of its dangers: the trabajaciones should not replace real vacation. Algo cada vez más difícil de conseguir en algunas empresas y/o países –; especially in the United States where, according to statistics, workers now enjoy fewer vacation days than they did years ago.
Y, obviamente, It should also be noted that Spain does not exist in a legal-labor framework that makes it easy implementation. ¿Work accident which had an employee in the pool of a hotel while attending a conference regarded?
Clearly, where a good holiday that are removed are best trabajaciones, but it recognizes that it is always better to connect to work from a hotel or a house overlooking the sea than having to sign in the office.
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